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| Huka Falls near Taupo |
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| Craters of the Moon Thermal field |
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| Waipunga Falls |
Day two, saw us continuing down the "Thermal Explorer Highway," to Taupo, then on to the Pacific coast and Napier, where NZ's wine country begins. Lake Taupo is absolutely gorgeous and is a huge lake nested in the center of North Island. This drive through the interior of North Island is called the Thermal Explorer highway because of the geologic nature of the land. Some areas are very "young" in a geological sense, only 150,000 years old. From Rotorua on past Taupo are many areas where thermal activities like geysers and steam can be seen emitting from the earth. We stopped and toured the "Craters of the Moon," in Taupo and because of our time table were not able to see the geyser, nor the Volcanic Valley of Waimangu, though we did stop at the center there and thoroughly enjoyed the drive, after which we were able to reconnect on our scenic drive to Napier.
This was a drive though plains and mountains, beautifully scenic. We saw a scenic overlook and pulled in surprised to see the beautiful Waipunga Falls. We did not know that the scenic overlook was actually overlooking these falls. It was a delightful discovery.
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| Views of Lake Taupo |
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| Our trusty "Britz" Explorer |
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